The Green Bay Packers' backup tight end has nearly 46,000 followers on the social networking site. He's a self-made Twitter sensation, a cult hero. Crabtree's wit is unrivaled on the team.

Critters in nature? "I just saw the CUTEST little squirrel!!! Then i ran over it like 2 seconds later :(." One of his kids? "my son cant even do a push-up lol #1yearolds #weakness." Penn State coach Joe Paterno? "U mean to tell me Joe Paterno wore THOSE glasses and couldn't SEE how wrong that situation was!?!!" Crabtree has poked fun at Skip Bayless, Daniel Tosh and, yes, even at his quarterback.

Then, he was gone. Crabtree bid farewell to Twitter on Aug. 1. For how long, he's not sure.

Difficult cuts -- again -- lie ahead. The Packers have a surplus of wide receivers and tight ends. Crabtree won't make the direct correlation between his Twitter exodus and this reality. The fourth-year tight end was undrafted out of Miami (Ohio). He says he's approaching this camp exactly how he approached the last two.

But Crabtree is also married with two kids. Bryce is almost 2 years old. Delaynie was born in April. There's only one year left on Crabtree's deal.

He realizes how important this summer is. Now, more than ever, he needs to be focused. So long, Twitter.

"It's nice to not be constantly looking at your phone," Crabtree said.

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"It's one less thing to worry about. Mentally, all I have to focus on right now is camp, football. That's how it should be."

In Green Bay, Crabtree has been the textbook overachiever. In two seasons, he only has 10 receptions. He makes his living as a reliable in-line blocker. Even on an offense packed with dynamite, someone must do the dirty work. Crabtree blocked on nearly three-quarters of his snaps last season.

So here's this year's number's game. At wide receiver, the Packers may keep six. At tight end, Andrew Quarless won't be returning any time soon after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament last December, but both D.J. Williams and Ryan Taylor have improved behind starter Jermichael Finley.

To diversify his game, Crabtree has worked on his hands and route running. In the playoff loss against the New York Giants, he had a crucial first-down drop. This summer, more balls have come his way, and Crabtree has been productive. He had one 28-yard reception in the team's intrasquad scrimmage and is active daily in practice.

While Fontenot said he has never read Crabtree's Twitter timeline, teammates sure have.

Williams believes Crabtree will be firing one-liners again at some point after camp. For now, he sees an ultra-focused tight end. Williams says Celine Dion music has been blaring from Crabtree's headphones throughout camp. Strange, of course. As all of those Twitter followers know, the tattooed Crabtree is diehard rock fan.

"He's not listening to heavy metal anymore; I don't know what's going on," Williams said. "He's not getting soft or anything. But that just slows your heart rate down and puts you in that ninja focus mode. When he's locked in and ready to roll, that's going to be dangerous."

In his free time, Crabtree has been watching the Olympics. He's been a big fan of the track and swimming events and followed Michael Phelps' tour de London closely.

The break has been refreshing. One thing Crabtree doesn't miss is the vocal minority of fans ripping players with vulgarities behind their computer screen. Even as he built an empire of devout fans, this became a pain.

"Twitter is starting to backfire on us," Crabtree said. "We don't want to be on there, we don't want to be part of it, if guys are just going badmouth you."

To everyone else, he does miss you.

"That's the bummer about it. It was fun," Crabtree said. "I think people enjoyed it. I'm done with it for a little while. We'll see how long it lasts. I'm still up in the air about it. I think I'm done for the year. You have to look at the big picture, too. It's not a big deal if I don't have Twitter in my life. I survived before."

Training camp keeps him busy enough. He has a career to keep alive in Green Bay. There won't be any tweets for Packer fans to read if he's not on the team.

Crabtree knows his game and says he won't try to be "Superman." But seeing his two kids is motivation before heading to work each day. He pays attention "to the details" more than he did before. He realizes how important his job is to them.

And as he repeats, this isn't new territory. Crabtree has been on the bubble before.

"I'm just doing what I've been doing," he said. "I'm not going to try to get out of my zone and be someone I'm not."